Acceptance
by dancingfingers
Summary: Summary: [MOVIE UNIVERSE] He should have had a bit of restraint on the first place. Still, he couldn't very well take his words back... no, not after he had almost lost her to death right before his eyes. WARNING: SPOILER ALERT. Now an extended one-shot.
1. Chapter 1

**Acceptance**

**-:::-**

**Disclaimer: I don't, under any circumstances, own Rurouni Kenshin.**

**Please forgive any mistakes you can find—it's un-beta-ed.**

-:::-

"Kaoru-_dono_... will you watch it over with me?"

He didn't know what compelled him to say that to her, this slip of a girl—_no, a woman,_ he corrected himself—who had genuinely accepted him as he was, providing a home to a wanderer and former man slayer, and gave her mere fallen leaf instead of a bouquet of flowers. Well, probably he did. He had, for the very first time after a long, gruesome past he'd been through, finally able to see the sky, the sun, and the rainbow after the storm after he chose to stay at the Kamiya _dojo._ Living with Tomoe, regardless of his own reluctance to compare his former wife to Kaoru, had promised him of something _normal_, a time when he could breath a bit easier with someone to come home to—albeit he had known in the very back of his mind, that Tomoe's appearance at that fateful night was no coincidence. Call it a warrior's instinct; he had been aware that Tomoe would bring him trouble in the future. It was thanks to his lessons under _Shishou_'s training: _Keep your friends close, and keep your enemies closer _that made him bring her with him to the inn.

Tomoe was once his enemy, too. He watched her when she slept, not because she was beautiful, but rather because he didn't trust her. He waited for the attack that was sure to come—but after months living together, along with her careful, gentle approach, he had let himself relaxed. He opened up to her, learned to care for her, and eventually, they fell in love with each other.

It was the start of his downfall—

Or, he smiled inwardly, the thawing of his frozen heart.

She died in his arms, by his own hands and sword. Her smile as she looked up at him and reached out to slash his cheek with her _tanto_. Her farewell, muffled by the blood in her mouth. Her confession of love to him. And snow... so much snow, tainted by the blood of his enemies and hers.

"Huh?"

Kaoru's confused voice shook him out of his wandering mind. He stared at her face: perplexed—a great deal of it—and, dare he say, a slight longing in her eyes. Kenshin bit back a chuckle. _She is still very young, that she is_, the redhead realized belatedly. He should have had a bit of restraint on the first place. Still, he couldn't very well take his words back... no, _not after he had almost lost her to death right before his eyes_.

He was serious about his feelings. He loved her, and he had a slight suspicion that it was way deeper than love. He _had _loved Tomoe, but this love of his for Kaoru was different. Before, it was a soft thrumming of his heart and a foreign yet comfortable warmth when Tomoe gave him her rare smile, born in the midst of chaos and blood. Yet, now... it was raw, it was selfish, it was so fast—_faster than his and Soujiro's speed combined_—to develop, and more importantly, it gave him life; never he'd experienced so many feelings at once. _She had made him truly alive. _She had no idea how hard it had been for him to say goodbye, to profess his love for her in a roundabout way, and refrained from kissing her, begging her to stop him thus he wouldn't leave and stay with her. His sense of responsibility stopped him, however, and he walked away with a heavy heart.

Kaoru stared at him, unmoving. He could see her mind tried to grasp what he wanted to say to her. But, as he was raised by a man of action like Hiko Seijuuro,it was only normal if Kenshin had an affinity to do the very same thing as he grew up to the man he was now. All he could do was wait (no matter how long it'd take), and act accordingly to her answer.

Her students chose that time to come out of the _dojo_, yet the two ignored them. One was too busy to understand him, the other one was full of hope, longing, and a promise of the future for them _both_.

A gust of autumn wind breezed by, ruffling his bangs and hers. _Momiji _leaves fluttered down to the ground between them. They stood still; Kenshin smiling his soft, small smile and she, with a blank expression. Even when her students bid their farewell, Kaoru didn't move to acknowledge them. Not even when Yahiko left to take his bath.

The moment was broken when Kaoru's gaze strayed upon the leaf in her hand. She rubbed it with her thumb and forefinger gently, not paying him a bit of her attention.

Her soft giggle surprised him in a very pleasant way. She finally looked at him, eyes sparkling, and said, "Silly Kenshin. Of course I'll do it—I will never leave you fighting alone, _ever_." She smiled at him beatifically—and in that moment he was tempted to grab her and kiss her senseless.

_Not now_, his conscience reminded fiercely, _She's too young to accept all of my—_

She raised the orange-red leaf to her supple lips and kissed it, eyes bashful, still setting her gaze upon him.

—_or perhaps not, _Kenshin's hazy mind retorted. He walked calmly towards her—how he had managed it with the sudden surge of desire within was beyond him—and slowly, very slowly, lifted his hand and tucked the stray strands of ebony hair behind her ear. His smile widened as he saw the tips of her ears pinked prettily.

"Kenshin?" she asked softly, nervous at his close proximity.

He chuckled quietly, leaning away slightly to give her space. "This one should start cooking lunch." When she nodded, he then added, "Will you help him?" _I want to spend more time with you, _Kenshin wanted to say.

She bit her lip. "Are you sure? You know I can't cook to save my life. I'll only ruin your cooking," she said sulkily.

He smiled, and offered her his hand. Peering at him under her thick eyelashes, she slowly nodded and placed her hand on his: her second acceptance of his affection.

"This one will teach you," he offered. _And many things to come, _he promised inwardly.

She gave him a shy smile as she squeezed his hand gently. "Okay."

_You don't have a destination in mind, ne, Rurouni?_

_No, this one already has it—you. Always you, Kaoru-dono._

-:::-

_Because the movies are awesome and I'll watch it again and again and Kenshin and Kaoru have this silent communication with their eyes I can't even—my feels, my fangirl heart, be still. THANK YOU FOR EVERYONE WHO MAKES RUROUNI KENSHIN HAPPEN AND PRETTY PLEASE MAKE DADDY KENSHIN REAL TOO! (Oh, and keep the hair long too when you go with it, okay?)_

_Thanks for reading, by the way!—dee_


	2. Chapter 2: Bliss Before The Storm

**Acceptance**

**Bliss Before The Storm**

-:::-

**Disclaimer: I don't, under any circumstances, own Rurouni Kenshin.**

_Quick note: This happens some time between last chapter and before Jinchuu arc. Hmm... if you think about it, the impact of Jinchuu will be greater than ever to Kenshin as he is officially courting her now, eh?_

-:::-

Kaoru paused in her musing as she caught the sight of _her _Kenshin—she smiled happily to herself at the thought—standing in the courtyard and looking up at the clear azure sky. Grinning, Kaoru stood up in one swift, graceful motion and headed towards the redhead.

It had been weeks after she accepted his proposal. It had confused her at first, since she had never experienced something like this—one out of love, that is. As a daughter of a _samurai _family and a swordswoman, she had the appeal as a bride_. _Her father had looked carefully for the candidates, but until his death, he had never considered any of them suitable for Kaoru. _After _his death, the _nakodo _had insisted the young orphan to at least choose one from the many propositions coming her way. While Kaoru herself was not adverse to _miai_, she had hoped that she would get married to someone she loved. Yet, knowing the implications that was sure to follow, she firmly rejected the _nakodo _again and again and eventually, she made her answer clear: she wasn't interested, and would stay single as long as she wanted to. Plus, she was still grieving over losing her invincible father and keeping her students to stay under her tutelage. The _nakodo _had stared at her strangely, then, and scorned the young woman over her choice.

Kaoru ignored her. She was quite content with what she did with her own life, thank you. She also never entertained herself of the idea of having a family of her own, lest she reminded herself of her loneliness, and busied herself to fulfill her duty as the sole Kamiya heir.

Then came Yahiko. She was visiting Genzai-_sensei _for a pain-reliever for her monthly cramps, when she saw a young boy curling into a ball in the alley she passed with a larger figure lying beneath his body. She decided to check on him, and was quite alarmed to find he was panting heavily, his eyes closed and cheeks wet. All over his body was bruises, old and new. She almost got into a shock when she noticed the figure—a _woman_—whose eyes were lifeless, staring at her blankly, and Kaoru quickly crouched down, checking her pulse. Nothing.

She ran to Genzai-_sensei_'s clinic, cradling the boy carefully in her arms. After he had been tended to, Kaoru went all the way back again with one of the apothecary's male assistant, bringing the woman's body to the clinic. She thought that the kid would be looking for the woman she assumed was his mother when he woke up, although she personally think that the mother should have been buried already to lessen the grief she'd seen prior.

True to her prediction, the boy, Yahiko was his name, immediately went panic when he woke up in a foreign place, with no one by his side. If it weren't for Kaoru's quick intervention, Yahiko would run all over the place or even run away to town just to seek his mother out. Of course, it wasn't an easy matter to subdue him; he kicked, bit, and even managed to punch Kaoru on her stomach, to which Kaoru merely sighed and carried him on her shoulder. She didn't listen to his curses and feeble threats until she practically yelled to his ear to _calm down_, and set him on his feet in the room where his mother resided. Yahiko was silent for a long moment, then burst into tears when Kaoru held him in silent support.

After burying Myojin-_san_, Kaoru turned to him and made an offer—one that she would never feel any regret in the future. "Would you like to be a swordsman, Yahiko?"

Yahiko lifted a brow in disbelief. "What?"

"If you want, I can teach you in _Kamiya Kasshin-ryū_. It is a style where the sword used as a tool to protect life."

He almost bobbed his head yes, but stopped as a thought crossed his mind. Regardless of his wish to follow the path of his deceased father, he couldn't afford to pay her. "I don't have money, Kaoru." _Not even a home_. "I'm not gonna bother you again after..." He swallowed the rest of his words and looked away.

Kaoru put a hand on his shoulder, stooping down to his eye level. Smiling kindly, she assured the boy, "You're going to pay in another way." As Yahiko opened his mouth to protest, Kaoru shook her head. "Come, student, you need to heal yourself properly first before I beat you up into a _samurai _you'll become in the future."

Yahiko's eyes were wet with tears, though he managed not to cry. He bowed as deep as his body allowed him to, saying, "Please treat me favorably, _sensei_" politely.

After that, her life turned upside-down. The rumor of a _hitokiri _named Battousai, the self-proclaimed practitioner of _Kamiya Kasshin-ryū_, had been involved in several murders. She searched, day and night, despite Yahiko's warning, for Battousai. She had to give back the honor in her family name. She would not stop until—until... she could stop him. How she would do it was another matter; she was not a _shihandai _for nothing, and would fight him bravely despite the name that had invoked fear in her heart.

Then Kenshin came to the picture, saving her even after she had attacked him first for suspecting him as _Hitokiri _Battousai without knowing she had called to the _right _person. _Hmm, _Kaoru paused in her quiet padding as she recalled something. _It was unnecessary to jump on me like that. No, wait, he SHOULD not have jumped AND straddled a young, unmarried woman like me in the first place!_ Little did she know, her _ki _had exploded into both anger and embarrassment, causing Kenshin to tense and turn to look at her.

"Kaoru-_dono_?" he called out hesitantly, cautiously.

Kaoru blinked, and stared up at his concerned face. All her previous anger and embarrassment promptly vanished into thin air. She couldn't just stay mad at him, not with his sweet, careful courtship he did. He understood her inexperience, and never pointed it out. He was attentive and caring, but also acknowledged her independence. He had never touched her inappropriately, but when he did touch her (no matter how innocent it was), Kaoru couldn't stop the effect to her heart, mind, soul, and body.

"Kaoru-_dono_, what is wrong?" he asked again, now standing closer to her. His gaze traveled down her body to check if she had been hurt. When he found nothing, he frowned up at her. "Kaoru-_dono_?"

Shaking her head, Kaoru reached out to smooth his frown. "It seems that I can never sneak up on you, hm?" She pouted a bit at the grin he made. "It's not fair."

Chuckling, he grabbed her hand and kissed the inner of her wrist. His eyes stared at her in adoration and desire, causing her heart to skip a beat. Kaoru could feel his lips' movement as he mumbled his reply to her skin, "This one will always be able to find you, Kaoru-_dono_, that he will."

Either from his touch or his words (or simply both), Kaoru began to blush furiously. She gathered her wits and flicked him on his forehead with her other hand, drawing out a startled _oro _from his lips. He blinked owlishly at her.

"It's not like I'm going anywhere, Kenshin. Not after I said I want to stay with you."

This time he was the one to blush. His cheeks pinked slightly, but he didn't let go of his hold. "It is true, that it is," he amended, "This one will not let you go either, Kaoru-_dono_." He moved closer, then, and wrapped both his arms around her. His head leaned down and nuzzled her temple, sighing in contentment as she melted in his arms.

"Kenshin?" she called him softly.

"Yes, Kaoru-_dono_?"

She pulled away a little, then cupped his scarred cheek lovingly. "Nothing is wrong," she referred to his previous query, "Everything is perfect, as it should be." Their lips were close, and her eyes went half-lidded when his warm breath caressed her lips. "Perfect."

His lips curved into a smile as they shared their first kiss of many to come.

-:::-

_I never plan to continue. Your reviews, however, fuel my sleeping muse to practically possess my fingers to type this. The other one, which I wrote first, is from Hiko's point of view. I'm not quite sure of his portrayal yet; that's why I'll edit it later._

_I hope you love this one too. I know I do (look at the mad grin I have when I finally made them kiss!). Let them have their bliss before Enishi strikes them down. _

_-dee_

Notes

In short, _miai (_見合い: matchmaking, lit. looking at one another) or _omiai _is a Japanese traditional custom in which unattached individuals are introduced to each other to consider the possibility of marriage. To help this process, usually the family will use a service of _nakodo (_仲人: matchmaker); this person could be a relative or a professional. No one is forced to marry in the end; if one party feels that the other isn't suitable for him/her, one can 'call off' the arrangement. _Nakodo _then will offer another candidate to consider and oversee the... _miai _until both parties agree to marry each other.

Source: wikipedia and a manga I've read a long time ago.


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